The Ultimate Guide To Whey Protein: What is it? Why Should you take it? When should you take it?

Since day one of my fitness and health journey, I have tried all types of proteins from whey concentrates to whey isolates to plant based blends. In my personal experience, whey isolate has always digested the best, helped with my muscle recovery and most importantly, tasted the best.

In majority of bodybuilding and fitness media, dairy based proteins such as whey isolates are the most the prominent and for good reason.

Below I will be giving you the 411 on whey protein and explaining what it is, when you should take it and why you should take it.

Let's get into it...

1. What exactly is whey protein?

Whey protein comes from cows milk and traditionally is known as the byproduct of cheese making. Essentially whey is just one of the protein components of cows milk along with casein which is seen most commonly as cottage cheese.

Whey has a complete amino acid profile meaning it contains the essential amino acids in which your body does not produce on its own (hence why they are essential). Essential amino acids are why we eat meat or vegans combine rice and beans to get those amino acids from food. These amino acids are essential for our body to go about many metabolic processes protein is needed for.

2. Why should I choose whey over other protein sources?

Whey protein gets its gold stars in the sports nutrition and fitness space because of its high leucine content (our protein has 3.3g of leucine per scoop!). Whey protein has been shown to contain more leucine per gram than any other complete protein source. 

So why should you care about leucine? Well, leucine has been seen in research to be the most important for muscle growth as it signals the body to activate muscle protein synthesis. So basically leucine takes your hard work in the gym and makes sexy muscles out of it!

3. When should you take it?

Okay, so now that you know why you should take it you are probably wondering when, how and where should you take whey protein?

Whey protein can be taken at any time of the day however, it is traditionally recommended to be taken pre-, post- or intra-workout to help support muscle growth and recovery. Whey protein won't negatively impact sleep or anything else so it can be taken at any hour of the day!

My favorite way to have whey protein is from the Glow Body Nutrition Glow Protein after my workout mixed with some yogurt and topped with some fresh berries and sunflower seeds!

 

Ready to #livetheglow now? Check out our full line of Whey Isolate Products HERE!